US2635261A - Feeder for elongated cylinderlike objects - Google Patents

Description

prll 21, 1953 l. F. STEWART ETAL FEEDER FOR ELONGATED CYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Filed April 25, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l DONALD GEORGE ASHCROFT MMV Attorneys prl 2l, 1953 l. F. STEWART ETAL 2,635,261

FEEDER FOR ELONGATED CYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Filed April 25, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors IAN FRASER STEWART DONALD GEORGE ASHCROFT @OMMVMM Aorneys April 2l, 1953 l. F. STEWART ErAL 2,635,261

FEEDER EDR ELoNGATED CYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Filed April 25, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors IAN FRASER STEWART DONALD GEoRrE AsHoRoFT MMM/@www Aitorneys Patented Apr. 21, 1953 FEEDER FOR ELONGATED CYLINDERLIKE OBJECTS Ian F. Stewart, Kilwinning, and Donald G. Ashcroft, Saltcoats, Scotland, assignors to Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, a corporation of Great Britain Application April 25, 1949, Serial No. 89,456 In Great Britain May 3, 1948 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a feeder for elongated cylinder-like objects, as for example tubes. cylindrical rods, and articles of other cross-sectional form as well as articles the crosssection of which varies along their length.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine of the aforesaid kind particularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greater length than width and of substantially straight longitudinal axis one behind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis.

According to the present invention the machine particularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greater length than width and of substantially straight longitudinal axis one behind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis consists of a casing for receiving therein a bulk supply of said articles, said casing consisting of at least one unit, each unit comprising at least one lower terminal narrow elongated opening which is closed by a moving member provided with at least one groove of a width to `permit only one row of said articles to lie therein, the groove in one position being at an angle to cause the articles collected therein to discharge into an orice in a predetermined position independent of said groove.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention a machine particularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greater length than width and of substantially straight longitudinal axis one behind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis consists of a casing for receiving therein a bulk supply of said articles to a depth not exceeding a predetermined level, said casing consisting of at least one unit, each unit comprising at least one base portion having a slot flanked on each side thereof by a vertical wall, the said walls being parallel to one another, extending vertically upwards to meet a surface which slopes downwards towards said slot and a blade of thickness approaching the width of the slot and having a groove along its upper edge and adapted to move vertically up and down through said slot, said groove being of a width to permit only one row of said articles to lie therein, and said unit having at least one discharge opening positioned in a wall thereof above said predetermined level and in alignment with the said groove for a position of said blade above said predetermined level, the groove in this position being at an angle to cause the articles collected therein to discharge through said opening.

In accordance with this embodiment of the invention the machine depends upon the action of4 a thin grooved blade held vertically with a groove on its upper edge at any suitable angle which may be fixed or variable but is always subject to mechanical control. The blade is movable in a vertical direction so that its grooved top is permitted to be submerged in a mass of articles of the kind defined delivered into the hopper of the machine. The blade is then allowed to rise through the mass of articles to permit the groove to catch some of the articles in its depression. When the grooved top is above the mass of articles the articles collected in the depression are allowed to pass into, for example, a collector pipe by arranging the grooved edge to have the required inclination in this position. The articles collected in the depression are caused to slide down the groove and into the pipe which is appropriately placed to catch the iiow of articles. After the articles have been thus delivered, the blade returns to its lowest position beneath the mass of articles and the cycle of operations is repeated. In accordance with this embodiment the vertically held blade or plate may either be a vertically reciproeating blade or plate or a swinging blade or plate.

The reciprocating blade in a machine constructed in accordance with this embodiment picks up the articles of the kind defined by vertical thrust through a random heap of said articles. The reciprocating blade then retracts through the articles to the bottom dead centre to be able to repeat the thrust. At said bottom dead centre the relatively deep groove formed by the sloping walls and the groove of the blade helps to line up the articles for their more eiiicient lifting.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention a machine particularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greater length than width and of substantially straight longitudinal axis one behind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis consists of a casing for receiving therein a bulk supply of said articles, said casing consisting of at least one unit, each unit comprising a top receiving portion the floor of which slopes from one side downwards to meet a vertical wall, a lower terminal narrow elongated opening below a vertical slot formed by said wall and another vertical wall, and a circular disc adapted to rotate in a vertical plane so that a rising portion thereof is constrained to move in said slot and to occupy substantially the full width of its gap, said slot extending vertically downwards to such a depth that its lower terminal gap is always closed by a portion of the disc, said circular disc having at least one` groove contained between planes at right angles to the.

side of the Idisc, and said groove being of a width to permit only one row of said articles to lie therein and being so positioned to be in one position during the rotation of the disc at an angle to causezqthearticles. collected therein' to. discharge eventually' into= an oricefin a predeter# mined position independent of said groove.

In accordance with this second embodiment of!Y the invention the machine may-.- take. the...form.

of a wheel with grooved strips positioned on.l

one or both of its sides. On the other ,hand the wheel may take the for-miciadisc' havingY apertures cut out therein and withl'gro'oves on the advancing face of each ofl'these apertures; In this embodiment the Wheel may be given a steady rotating motion. Irr..contradistinctiori` to the reciprocating blade embodiment vwhich has a waste period during its retraction. val1 the movement of the rotating disc may be utilisedfor the picking up of the articles. Furthermore, in accordance with this secondembodiment of the" invention the'groove-or `grooves provided in the rotatingy disc or wheelpiol; up articles which have'been already lined' up; This lining up is due' tothe tubesdropping into thespacev between the' adjacent floor walls when the top of this spacev is opened` byVVA the upward passage ofthe preceding sp'okecof theapertured discv or wheel. Thispre'hlining upv of` the articles is a fundamental action of' the machine constructed in accordancewitlrV the second embodiment. The pre-lining'V also t'endsftcpermit more articles to befdischarged-'in'a given time. Again, the Aerrtire cycle of operations; ii e; from one pickA up' by av spoke to" thep'icl upby the nextl spoke in the apertured'wheel, is` used 1goI carry' out useful work'as thereisrio-retraction Furthermore, as the wheel isv always rising'through the mass of'articles they tend-'to beY more gently handled. Also the eiiiciency of'A operati-Onis undiminished as the' hopper oor is cleared. A` machine con'- structed inaccordancewith" ther second embodi-f ment" may also" be of" smaller design than onek constructedin accordance with; the rstembodiment.. Onthe other hand,v the smaller holding capacity Aofl the? second embodiment relative to that ofthe. first'embodirnent, makes it necessary toV keep it filled byr'the provision of a. bucket conveyor or. other llingfmeans.

The invention is. illustrated byy way of example with reference to the diagrammatic drawings faccompanying,nthespecification whereoff Figs. 1,1. 2"and`3 illustrate oneembodir'nent' of the invention and Figs. 4' and" 5 illustrate another embodimentI of. theL invention. Fig. 1r is. a front elevation. of a.. machine according tothe rst embodimentA of" thednvention. and.. particularly suitable-.for the .delivery of..detonater tubes and Fig..2. is a. side elevation of part ofjthe. machine on. the line A-A. of Fig.. l looking in thev direction of. the. arrow.. Fig. .3 is an. isometric. View .of thetwo. units,V I` in Fig... 1'... Fig..4. isan isometric view of amachine. accordingv to the second em.- bodiment of thev inventionand. particularly suitablefor the'delivery of= detonator tubes and Fig. 5 isafront sectional viewof. the. twov units of the casing illustratedz i-rrlfig. 4. Ihef-samefreference numerals. vrefer to like.4 parts throughout.k

Referring toA the. drawings,1Figs. 1,?2' and 3, I is a unitv inthe casing of.y the machine'. two suchv units being; shown; Each unit I. comprises at least4 .one base portion 2 each havingv aslot. 3, anked on'. each side. thereof. by a vertical wall 4'; these:sidewalls."being:J parallel tof one.y another face 5 which slopes downwards towards said slot 3, and a plate 6 of a thickness approaching the width 8 of the slot 3 and having a groove 'I along its upper edge and adapted to move up and. down. through said" slot 3 said groove l bein'g lof a width topermit only' one'rowy of tubes 9 to lie therein. Each unit I has a discharge opening It positioned in a wall II thereof above the. predetermined-.level I2 above which the top surface of' the bulk supply of tubes 9 is not permitted to exceed. The discharge opening III is in alignmentvwith the collector pipe I3. When the groove -T is at its highest position I4 it is in alignment with the discharge opening IIJ and the collector'pipe I3 and so the row of tubes 9 collectedin-y thegroove I flow out of the discharge opening It. into the collector pipe I3. When the plate 6. is in its lowest position I5 its groove 'I forms" a deep groove I with the two sloping surfaces 5.

' The driving gear/for'this embodiment ofv the invention comprises-a common drive shaft VI which carries al series of worinsl I8 each of which drivesone set of operating gear. The Worm i8 drives the worm wheely l5' the shat 20' of which extends to both sides;` Each end of the shaft 25 is provided with a crankV 2|. The rotation of theucra-nk pins 22v is-V translated into vertical reciprocating motion of the bridles' 23 through the' medium' of theI forked connecting rods 2.4.

1t isv foundA that detonator tubesV delivered by this machine-arei'n no way damaged orr scratched'.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5. 25 is a casing.` 26 is a bulk supply of tubes, 2lr is one complete unit' and 2'!" is a unit showing a cut away portion. The unit 2l comprises atop receiving portion '28, the floor 29 of which slopes downwards to meet a vertical slot 39; 3l'v is a circular disc having apertures 3'2 cut out therein with grooves 33 on the advancing face of eachof the aper tures 32. The groove 33Y is of a' widthl 34 to permit only onerow 35 oftubes ZIito-lie-therein.A Each `groove is so positioned once during4V the rotation of the disc 3lV that it is at an angle to' causeV the row 35l`r of tubes' collectedl therein to` discharge eventuallyinto the orifice :i6-fof; the collector pipe 37. 38 ris'the lowerl terminal gap of the vertical slot 3Q. 139 isa curved defl'ector plate provided attheend'of' each groove 33"and is' soKL set that when. the` groove 33v i's'in align'- ment with. the orice 36 the row of tubes'35. will slide downwards" andbe guided ofi the groove 3?. into" the'orice 36; di) is' the axle' ofithe' disc 3|. 4I. are thespokes of the' disc 3I.

Referring particularly toFi'g. 5 the left hand unit shown therein shows the spoke 4I which'i's in the upper position carrying a row of tubes 35 in its groovey 3'3". When. this upper spoke ll-II reaches the position shown. in the right. hand unit illustrated in Fig...5"some of. the bulk supply of tubes 26 are.abletodrop'intothe vertical.- slot. 30 so-as to fallinto the groove 33 of the following spoke. 4I shown in` the positionwhere it, has entered andi closed theflowery terminalgap 38;

Detonator tubes delivered bythis. machine: are. found to be in hof-way damaged or scratched.v

We claim:

1. A machine particularly adapted for deliver'= ing articles of relatively greater length, than.. width and. of a substantially straight longitur. dinal aXis aligned: oneA behind the other'. in the. direction: of. their longitudinal axis' consisting. of a'. casingv for receiving thereinabulk'. supply of.

and extendingvertically-upwards tormeetiasursaidlartiCleasaidacasing,consistingiotatileastona unit, each unit comprising an article receiving means the oor of which slopes from one side downwardly at an angle to the horizontal and terminates in a downwardly extending vertical wall, a second wall parallel to said rst vertical wall and spaced therefrom a distance not materially greater than the Width of the articles to be delivered to provide said articles with a preliminary orientation, a disc adapted to rotate in a vertical plane with a minor portion thereof extending in the space between said walls and positioned with respect to the casing so that the terminating edge of the sloping floor of the casing is approximately on a line with the horizontal diameter of the disc, the thickness of said disc being substantially equal to the distance between said walls, and a plurality of substantially radially extending arms bounding recesses in said disc, said arms being spaced apart a distance such that when the rear extremity of one of the said arms clears the terminating edge of the sloping floor of the casing, the following arm is in a position closely approaching the horizontal, said recesses being of a depth and width not appreciably greater than the width of the articles to be received therein and being thereby adapted to receive articles and orient them during the upward passage of said recesses between said vertical walls and further being adapted to discharge said oriented articles by gravity into a receiving means which maintains said orientation.

2. A machine particularly adapted for delivering articles of relatively greater length than width and of a substantially straight longitudinally axis aligned one behind the other in the direction of their longitudinal axis as set forth in claim 1 wherein the discharge end of each groove is provided with a deector guide adapted to direct the articles to the side of said disc member for delivering to said receiving means.

IAN F. STEWART. DONALD G. ASHCROFT.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 594,457 Campbell Nov. 30, 1897 611,604 Campbell Oct. 4, 1898 678,827 Morris July 16, 1901 1,536,833 Fagan et al May 5, 1925 1,600,238 McCain Sept. 21, 1926 1,718,166 McCain June 8, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 409,952 France Jan. 1, 1918

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